Preserving History

Growth spurs conflict between preservation, development

David Gottschalk
Credit: NWA Democrat-Gazette
Joi Knight (from left), director of development with Haas Hall Academy; David Swain, project manager; and Stacy Keenan, director of development, speak July 25 in the restored lobby area at the new Haas Hall Academy Rogers Campus in Rogers. The campus is in the former historic Lane Hotel in the Rogers Commercial Historic District.

Years of water damage have stained the walls. Holes in the ceiling expose the second floor to the first. The staircase creaks, boards straining under the pressure of each footstep. A musty aroma taints the air, as if someone was rifling through the pages of an old book.

The Stone-Hilton house, located at 306 E. Lafayette St., in Fayetteville was recently purchased by Ben Meade and his wife Jane Hunt Meade.

The historic Stone-Hilton House at 306 E. Lafayette St. in Fayetteville’s Washington-Willow Historic District has fallen into disrepair after years of...

An interior room reflects the toll that more than 140 years have taken on the Stone-Hilton House in Fayetteville.

Springdale downtown

Fayetteville Downtown

Rogers Downtown

Bentonville Downtown

New District

Fayetteville’s Historic District Commission and city planning department are finishing an architectural survey for a new historic district. The Meadow and Spring Street Historic District, which is just the working name, would encompass an area between Dickson and Mountain streets.